Trump Watch

How to Interview a Nazi: Gary Younge

Two ways to interview a Nazi: on the one hand, The New York Times recently did a profile of “the Nazi next door,” portraying him as an ordinary guy; on the other, Gary Younge confronted Richard Spencer, America’s leading white supremacist, on video. With Gary’s help, we compare and contrast the two approaches.
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Amy Wilentz on Ivana’s “Raising Trump”; plus Harold Meyerson on the GOP Tax Bill, and Linda Gordon on Fred Trump and the KKK

“Raising Trump” is Ivana’s new book about Don Jr., Ivanka, Jared and little Eric—Amy Wilentz says it’s not your typical child-raising advice book.
Plus: The GOP tax bill in the Senate: Harold Meyerson brings us the bad news.
And historian Linda Gordon on the arrest of Fred Trump (Donald Trump’s Father) at a KKK rally in 1927, and, her new book: “The Second Coming of the KKK: The Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s and the American Political Tradition.”
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The Alabama-ness of Alabama Politics: Howell Raines; plus Adam Shatz on the President and the Bomb

The legendary journalist Howell Raines reports from Alabama on the continuing Republican support for Roy Moore, the Senate candidate accused of molesting a 14-year-old and sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl. Meanwhile, his Democratic opponent, the heroic civil-rights attorney Doug Jones, is running “the most vigorous Democratic campaign that’s been waged in Alabama in at least 30 years.”
Also, the president and the bomb: We’re hoping the generals keep Trump from doing anything crazy, like starting a nuclear war with North Korea—but the system is set up to give the president control over nuclear weapons, rather than the military. Adam Shatz explains–he wrote about Trump and the bomb for the London Review of Books.
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The Resistance Year One: David Cole; plus Harold Meyerson on Al Franken and Steve Ross on ‘Hitler in LA’

Trump Year One: The Resistance and the ACLU.  David Cole reports–he’s the ACLU’s National Legal Director, and he discusses voting rights, the travel ban, and the essential role played by citizen activism.
Also: Our Washington Report with Harold Meyerson, executive editor of The American Prospect: the House passes the GOP tax bill, and Al Franken apologizes for unwanted sexual acts.
Plus: historian Steve Ross talks about his new book, ‘Hitler in L.A.: How Jews Foiled Nazi Plots against Hollywood and America.’
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Harold Meyerson: the Virginia vote; Katha Pollitt: Anger Management; Mike Wallace: ‘Greater Gotham’

The Democratic triumph in Tuesday’s Virginia election and its implications for 2018–Harold Meyerson comments, also: what the Democrats should do on tax policy.
Plus: Katha Pollitt on anger management, one year after Trump was elected;
And: New York City–it’s Trump’s home, and it’s also the antithesis of Trump. Comment from Mike Wallace–he won the Pulitzer Prize in History in 1999 for “Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898” and has authored a follow up, it’s called “Greater Gotham: A History of NYC 1898-1919”.
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11/9/2017

E.J. Dionne: America After Trump—plus Why are Trump voters so angry? Historian Steve Hahn on TrumpWatch

America After Trump: E.J. Dionne argues that Trump has mobilized progressive political forces that can transform America—and he reminds us that Trump never had a majority of voters, and is the most unpopular presidents in our history. E.J. is co-author of “One Nation After Trump: A Guide to the Perplexed, the Disillusioned, the Desperate, and the Not-Yet-Deported.”

Also: Why are Trump voters so angry? Historian Steve Hahn examines explanations of white working class rage, starting with the monster bestseller “Hillbilly Elegy” by J.D. Vance, which has spent more than a year on the best-seller list. Also: “White Rage” by Carol Anderson, and Justin Gest’s book “The New Minority: White Working Class Politics in an Age of immigration and Inequality.”
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